garry connell

Annie & Garry #366 were unfortunate in this rally, as the engine died just after finishing stage 5.
So was our team mate #386 Yasir & Lauren, the gear box broke half way on stage 5.

But our Team XtremePlusis still in the race! The cars #350 William and #364 Nicolas & Sebastien, are stable on positions around 48-50.

#350 William (solo)

#364 Nicolas & Sebastien

#350 had problems with the front suspension on stage 7. #364 tried to help but luckily the truck came to rescue – again – so everybody could continue. But they finished a little too late. It was very windy and dusty.It seems they are driving together and thus “sharing” the codriver Sebastien, as William drives solo.The truck #552 (Piana, Cangani, Trote) is also still in the game, position around 42.

Recently noticed:
There are a couple of Estonian bikers doing quite well. Nice to see other riders from northern Europe in Dakar! These Dakar rookies are #117 Meeru, pos 42, and #133 Triisa, pos 59, both taking it easy and safe – very wise.

#117 Mart Meeru

#133 Toomas Triisa

Good luck to all of them, and the others struggeling in the dunes and mountains , enduring heat, sandstorms, cold, rain… and even suffering from painful injuries.

I’ve learned a lot about racing a car in Dakar. Many riders think the courses, so far, have been very difficult.

But we feel the driving has been okay. Sure, very long days but not too tough. And the navigation worked perfectly. Garry didn’t have any problems at all driving – he used his head, chose the best tracks, no stucking in sand. He really has the capacity needed to finish Dakar.

The reason for us quitting was simply a technical matter, a minor glitch that caused a major breakdown. So unnecessary and unfair. But, that’s Dakar…

Garry: “This is what stopped us, a chaffed $50 external oil feed line to the oil cooler !!!!If you have any, and I mean ANY weak links in either yourself, your race vehicle or your assistance team, preparations or strategy, Dakar WILL find them and your rally will be over!”

Our white team truck #552 with Marco helping out on stage 4.

Checking everything from top …

… to bottom.

There are other severe conditions during this race, causing problems.
The weather has been extremly hot, around 40 C. Several contestants have suffered from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Some accidents probably are the consequenses. Even deaths have hit competitors, journalists and spectators lately.

A top biker #5 Chaleco Lopez fell from an edge in a river bed, the bike crashed, thus out of race. Luckily no bad bodily injuries.
He was my Honda team mate in Patagonia rally 2005.

San Juan – Chilecito. First a 211 km timed section, then a 111 km neutralised sector raced at a link section pace, and then another timed section 205 km long. Specials in total 657 km. Highest point to reach is at over 3200 m.
“The longest special stage since 2005 for the cars and a really demanding route in the countryside! Rivers and canyons will offer terrains with interesting possibilities to overtake fellow competitors!”

The connection road.

Standings this stage: pos 83, 12:21:39 (+7:01:07)
Total pos 75.

Photo by Marie Hessel

This was a nightmare stage! Never ending course, in total 868 km. Mainly the same track as in 2011 when I got big problems – leaking oil and engine stopped.

Already at 133 km the engine stopped, loosing all oil. We worked hard to find the leak. It was 35dgr, the sun burning, we stood in a dusty floodbed. The engine is cramped for space, hard to get hands on the problem. Our team partner Yasir passed by, but couldn’t help.
At last the “angel of salvation” team boss Marco Piana came in his rally truck #552, also our service truck just in case. After a long time we found the leaking oil line. We fixed a bypass disconnecting the oil cooler.

Then we could get on the road again, but very slowly so the oil wouldn’t overheat. We were rolling quite well even when it got late night when approaching the finish.
But the last waypoint was tricky! Many cars and trucks were driving around lost in the darkness. Really no fun, we just wanted this to end. And we did reach the finish at last, then only 167 km connection to drive. But after only a few km all oil pressure was gone. Luckily Marco was just behind us and towed us to the bivouac.
So great to have a service truck of your own, always taking you home! I wish I’d had one when racing alone on my bike encountering all those mishaps.
We arrived at the bivouac around 3 in the morning.
Bodily damage: my butt was quite sore after this 20 hours sitting on a bumpy ride.

The mechanichs did their best to fix the oil line and engine, all night and morning.

Too bad Yasir must quit the race halfway of the stage due to broken gearbox.

San Rafael – San Juan.
Due to the severe weather of the last few days – rain has flushed away some soil – the special section this stage should have been shortened. But as the weather got better the special was finished as originally planned, 245 km.

Tricky and narrow tracks, up to 3000 m height – great scenery! Some fast stony parts, also on food beds, and feshy at the end.
Stage time 4:42:17 (var +1:43:25), pos 80.
Total 74th, 3rd in SSV class!

Good morning, happy at start

Our strategy was the old “rabbit vs turtle” – it worked well! Our team Turtle finished slow but safe, no problems. And hooray – no flat tyres! (Peterhansel had 6!)

San Luis – San Rafael, SS Cars 433 km. It’s been long and tough for most competitors. Quite speedy tracks and parts through rough stone areas and over great dunes.

Annie & Garry finished the stage at about 21:15 local time, timed on the special stage 8:31:35 (var +4:39:30). Position 83.

Annie: “Only 50-60 km into the stage we got a flat tyre, and then another… we have only 2 spare wheels. So we had to slow down and drive cautiously, the stones are very edgy and hidden in the sand! Then there was that really nasty fesh-fesh, that blew all over us – everywhere – couldn’t see anything.And then 40 km from finish one more flat tyre. So annoying, but we managed to fix one of the other flatties with a vulcanite plug.

Many riders stood along the track with flat tyres, including our team mate Saedan. One car was totally burnt out, also a truck upside-down in the ditch.

Fesh-wash at night

This track was in the same soft dunes where I fell badly in 2009, broke my nose and got the handlebar bent – then it was raining and hailing all night. (*)”

Annie & Garry are in a good mood and have done well, in spite of some problems with brakes. They got lost early in the stage, and Garry must adjust his driving, using the motor to slow down the speed.
So, it was quite exciting as the stage was rather difficult.

Connell/Seel: “Splendid stage! The terrain was like it is in Australia, in the Safari Rally. Stones, narrow, sinuous… It was awesome, I had so much fun! We passed Robby Gordon twice, and also Ronan Chabot, it was fun! Only our brakes suffered due to the hot temperature and of all the braking.”